# I can't believe there's no shooting range in my town **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 29, 2008, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-theres-no-shooting-range-in-my-town/435415 "2008-01-29T04:08:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-theres-no-shooting-range-in-my-town/435415/1 "2008-01-29T04:08:05Z")
I was at Dick’s Sporting Goods browsing over the rifles and shotguns. I used to shoot .22 rifles at summer camp as a kid and I liked it; I’ve always been a very good shot with BB guns also, so I thought it would be nice to get myself a rifle. They had a lot of them there at affordable prices. “If I bought one of these rifles, is there a place in town where I could go to practice?” “No. There’s no firing range in town or even in the county. There’s one in Owen County. There used to be one here but the anti-gun people got it shut down.” “Really?” “Yeah. Even the cops can’t use it anymore.” “You’re telling me that the cops have to go to a different county to practice shooting?” “Yup.” What the fuck. I would love to shoot again but if there’s no firing range in town, what can I do? I have a few friends who have enough land that we could go out and shoot there, but I would still prefer to have a shooting range where I could try multiple weapons, learn tips, and have knowledgeable instructors around. Why must I drive to another county for this? It isn’t fair. (Note, I don’t know anything about the politics of the “anti-gun people” or if that is actually why the shooting range got closed.) ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-theres-no-shooting-range-in-my-town/435415/2 "2008-01-29T11:43:57Z")
Suggestion: use anti-gun people for target practice. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-theres-no-shooting-range-in-my-town/435415/3 "2008-01-29T18:35:42Z")
Yep. There’s none in mine, either. I have to drive 30 minutes to get to a shooting range. It’s really delayed my plans to become more firearm-proficient. I still go and shoot, but it’s every 3 or 4 months, instead of every month like I’d like. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-theres-no-shooting-range-in-my-town/435415/4 "2008-01-29T18:35:27Z")
Yeah that sucks. Buy some land and start your own? Buy some land either way, then you can shoot (I assume, depending on your local laws.) ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-theres-no-shooting-range-in-my-town/435415/5 "2008-01-29T18:46:10Z")
It’s sad, and it happens more and more every day. Join the NRA, we’re not all crazy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mongo\_Ponton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mongo\_Ponton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongo_Ponton)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-theres-no-shooting-range-in-my-town/435415/6 "2008-01-29T22:25:14Z")
There’s a shooting range in every town. It may just look like something else. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-theres-no-shooting-range-in-my-town/435415/7 "2008-01-29T22:36:05Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] “…anti-gun people got it shut down.” [/QUOTE] Have you actually investigated whether this claim is true? I’m a little skeptical. I’m definitely “anti-gun” but I don’t have a problem with shooting ranges as long as the guns used there are properly regulated, and the range itself is safe. I think most pro-gun-control people are the same way. Even my favorite liberal talk-show host says she enjoys going to shooting ranges. (“I just don’t think I should be able to take that handgun home with me.”) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-theres-no-shooting-range-in-my-town/435415/8 "2008-01-29T23:20:20Z")
It may be a “not in my back yard” issue. We were about to get a county Parks & Rec sponsored skeet shooting range here, but neighbors adjoining the rural parcel of land objected.